The Comics Alternative

Special - A Roundtable Discussion on Religion and Comics

The Comics Alternative is weekly podcast focusing on the world of alternative, independent, and primarily non-superhero comics. (There's nothing wrong with superhero comics. We just want to do something different.) New podcast episodes become available every Wednesday and include reviews of graphic novels and current ongoing series, discussions of upcoming comics, examinations of collected editions, in-depth analyses of a variety of comics texts, and spotlights on various creators and publishers. The Comics Alternative also produces "special feature" programs, such as shows specifically dedicated to creator interviews, webcomics, on-location events, and special non-weekly themes and topics.

On this special episode of the podcast, Derek moderates a
roundtable discussion on comics and religion. Joining him on the
panel are Elizabeth Coody (teaching at the Iliff School of
Theology), Jeff Brackett (Ball State University), and A. David
Lewis (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences), all
of whom are comics scholars focusing on representations of
religious belief and faith. They begin their discussion by
sharing their backgrounds in comics and how they have found the
medium a useful means to approaching religious studies. In
addition to describing the specifics of their scholarship, the
panelists also discuss the various strategies they've
employed when using comics in the classroom, along with the
challenges that come when using comics to teach issues of faith.
The subjects that come up during the discussion range from
superheroes and myths, manifestations of the afterlife, adaptations
of religious texts, biographies of religious leaders,
expressions of heaven and hell, the crossroads of faith and
ethnicity, and parodic (even heretical) representations of
religious figures, doctrines, and practices. At times on the
panel the discussants clash or come at books from different
angles -- for example, Jeff and David disagree on the usefulness of
Craig Thompson's Habibi and Derek pushes back on the
"religiousness" of such comics as Maus, A Contract with God,
and Persepolis -- but the talk is always
lively and insightful. Among the many texts they reference are Neil
Gaiman's Sandman series, Mike
Carey's Lucifer, Justin Green's Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary,
Robert Crumb's The Book of Genesis Illustrated, Sean
Murphy's Punk Rock Jesus, Mark
Waid's Kingdom Come, Mark
Millar's American Jesus, and Craig
Thompson's Blankets. They even discuss comics as
religious propaganda, such as what you'll find in the Spire comics published by Archie during the
1970s and the ever-present Chick
tracts. The panelists covered a lot of ground, but there was so
much more that was left unspoken...enough to warrant a future
follow-up roundtable on the same topic.

About the Podcast

Two guys with PhDs talking about comics! The Comics Alternative is a multi-programmed podcast focusing on the world of alternative, independent, and primarily non-superhero comics. (There's nothing wrong with superhero comics. We just want to do something different.) New review episodes become available every Wednesday and include discussions of graphic novels and current ongoing series, overviews of upcoming comics, examinations of collected editions, insightful analyses of a variety of critical texts, and spotlights on various creators and publishers. The Comics Alternative also produces a many in-depth interviews with creators. In addition, you'll find a variety of themed monthly programs, such as shows specifically dedicated to webcomics, manga, comics for younger readers, European albums, and on-location events.